My Vegan Diary |Days 11-24.

Yesterday was day 24! I made it to day 24 being vegan!

The plan was to do these updates every few days, if for nothing else to show to myself that going vegan is nowhere near as hard as people seem to think, ITS NOT HARD, when you actually think about it and decide YOU want to be vegan it’s not hard. As with any lifestyle change its only as hard as YOU make it and decide it should be.

I was once told its 21 days to break a habit, I don’t know how true that is. I like to think of eating meat as a bad habit. A habit I have now broken. There is no way I could bring myself to eat an animal product now, it just feels so wrong even to think about it.

Between days 11 and 19 life’s really all just blended into one, I have loved what I’ve eaten for the most point but there has been a fair few just ‘oh this only takes 10 mins….ill just eat that’ kind of meals, I guess that’s because of how I’ve been feeling. My husband has been super supportive though, more than I expected to be honest.

From days 20-24 I’m actually trying new things again, well I was before but I feel like I’m enjoying the cooking more. Which is always a plus.

Another plus is I’ve found 2 vegan chocolates I like, one is white and one milk both from Tesco’s free from range.

Asda has started selling some veggie sweets that are ‘mocktail’ flavoured and they are super good.

Skittles and starburst are vegan……I repeat they are vegan…..

….And my skin is breaking out like a bitch….. But chances are that’s all the tablets I’m on.

A huge plus, I think my mum might change to plant based milks, she’s really intrigued by them.

 

I still love being vegan.

 

My Vegan Diary| Days 6-10.

Woo I made being vegan to day 10! It was getting pretty rocky day 9 but other than that I have been loving it.

Day somewhere between day 6-7 my headaches went from detoxing and they went back to being cold reaches so they were manageable.  And I just feel like I have never eaten better.

Sorry this post is going to be very here and there, since not much has happened (with my vegan journey) but I am going to talk about 2-3 encounters since going vegan.

So yesterday (day 9) I woke up with a very intense pins and needles like feeling in my face, which moved to a numbness, as if I had been at the dentist. My face was drooped down too. My doctor was called who when my husband explained what was wrong, phoned me an ambulance and I was checked into the hospital emergency department. I had so many tests, the same tests over and over by different teams of doctors (the doctor treating me, the stroke team, the neurology team, training nurses) along with OBS over and over, and ECGs and an MRI (to an extreme chrostrophobic, to have that shoved on me, was the most scary experience of my life). After over 6 hours I felt like a bloody pin cushion. Also after around the 7 hour mark I had a digenesis. Bells palsy…its better than the other things the doctors thought, but still not something I’m overly thrilled about.

I was talking to the doctor and nurse about my diet, and I said I had recently gone vegan. The nurse rolled her eyes and looked like she no longer had time for me from that point….really….

The doctor was really cool, he asked how it was going and said he believes that it should help me recover quicker (adding that there is no evidence for this, only his personal belief). I liked that doctor lol.

So today (day 10) my good friend came round, I hadn’t seen her in a few weeks but when she heard about yesterday she wanted to be with me, we had a catch up. I told her I had recently gone vegan. Her response ‘what, why?’ I explained that I no longer want to contribute to animal cruelty and she tells me that ‘there’s no way you can be healthy and vegan’ I changed the subject after that. I had no energy to argue with her.

Making vegan choices is getting easier!

I will always be vegan!

There’s no going back now 🙂 

My Vegan Diary| Days 3,4 & 5.

Day 3,4 and 5 of being vegan has been my own mini form of hell! Ugh that sounds so dramatic!

Essentially food wise it’s been great, I’ve not had any ‘slip ups’ nor have I had any cravings. I’ve just had horrendous headaches! Absolutely horrible ones. I’ve also felt really thirsty.

I read online that for some people this can be normal though? I spoke to some people within a few Facebook groups who said they gave gone through the same, after transitioning to vegan. I was also advised to make sure I’m limiting ‘processed’ vegan foods (which I have been anyway but its worth keeping in mind) because they are full of salt and can cause some people to become very thirsty.

From research I’ve done it seems that I am ‘detoxing’ right now. I also found from that research that many people decide being vegan is too hard and decide it’s easier for them to eat meat. I would rather push through these headaches. I plan on upping my water intake. Try not to snack on anything ‘quick and processed’ for a few days, snacking on fruit instead. Apparently this will help. I hope it will help.

Another thing I seem to be struggling with is eating out…this shouldn’t be so difficult. I found out muffin break has a gorgeous roasted red pepper and humus wrap which is super fresh tasting, although my local muffin break at least only has it available once a week. I went in today, and asked if they had any left and they offered me tuna instead….. fun times.

Most menus I’ve looked at either can’t be veganised (most items pre-cooked) or it will cost me about £20 for one meal (that would have been £8).

A group of friends wants to go out for dinner next week, I looked at the menu and NOT ONE thing is vegan. I’ve been in touch with them (the restaurant) and they will do a vegan option but they are not saying what it is, as of yet, so I am really unsure whether I will be going.

That being said I tried my first vegan subway today. The staff were brilliant as soon as I ordered the ‘vegie delight’ they changed their gloves without me even asking and told me which breads were vegan friendly. Some of subways sauces are vegan too. I actually felt content after which before (when I wasn’t vegan) I would always feel over stuffed.

All of that being said, and I know I’ve had a bit of a winge….

I will not go back. That is not an option. What I know now about the meat and dairy industry, I would put up with these horrendous headaches for the rest of my life, just to be able to have a clear conscience by not contributing to that industry!

 

Fluffy Vegan Pancakes

I love pancakes, I would have them for breakfast, lunch and tea if I could!

Here is my simple vegan pancake recipe. Top with your favourite toppings and you’re good to go.

Pancake Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of plant based milk, use your favourite/whatever you have around. I like Almond.
• 1 ¼ -1 ½ cups of plain/all-purpose flour.
• 1 table spoon baking powder.
• 1-2 table spoons sugar.
• 2 table spoons oil, I like to use vegetable.
• 2 table spoons water.
• A pinch of salt (This just works well).

The topping I made:

• Frozen fruit, I used berries.
• Lemon juice.
• Sugar, I have also made this in the past with sweetener, or golden syrup.

Method (pancakes):

1. Put the dry ingredients into a bowl and stir together.
2. Mix in the wet ingredients. Mix until only just combined into a smooth batter.
3. Grease up a fry pan, I like to use vegan butter, or spray oil. Heat up the pan.
4. Spoon enough batter for one pancake into the fry pan, once the pancakes bubble all over, and a few burst they are ready to flip.
5. Cook until golden.
6. Repeat 3-5 for the rest of the batter.

For the topping:

1. In a pan heat on a medium temp the frozen fruit, with some lemon juice and sugar.
2. The fruit will melt, and start to cook. It should take 5 mins.
3. Once it becomes the consistency you want, I like lots of juice and slightly caramelised.

Stack your pancakes and pour the topping over.

Enjoy!

I thought going vegan would be harder…

I feel like, I thought going vegan would be harder, I mean there is SO many things I can no longer have right? Veganism is super restrictive isn’t it? These are things I had actually seen floating around online. The truth it is not, Or I don’t believe it is.

Granted I’ve only been vegan for 2 days….This journey has been a long process for me.

Let’s roll back 13 years, I went vegetarian for 3 years, but my heart was not in it….everyone was surprised I survived that long, and honestly so am I. After that I went back to being an omnivore, and was convinced we all needed meet to survive (hello Amie, you just went 3 years without it!). About 8 years ago I went vegetarian again for a few months….steak was calling my name (ugh this disgusts me now) I loved steak (also disgusts me) but hey we ALL have a past with food.  This leads us up to summer (june/july/aug) 2016 I started watching YouTube vids about veganism. Mostly just vegan vloggers. It really got into my head. I heard their message…LOUD AND CLEAR! I was just not ready to act on it yet. In January I decided by December I would be vegan (progress) and I thought it would be a lengthy process. I thought it needed to be, I didn’t understand the nutrition. At the beginning of May I went vegetarian, and set myself the goal of being vegan on June 1^st 2017.

Throughout May I researched, chatted to vegans on reddit, watched loads of YouTube vids and documentaries (such as earthlings and conspiracy), and slowly cut out the rest of the animal products in my diet.

And now I can proudly say I’m vegan….even if it’s only been 2 days.

I’ve been super surprised about how much I can have vs what I can’t have. There are so many ‘surprise its vegan’ moments while out shopping.

The other thing I was concerned about was cost, I mean veganism is expensive right…..er no. I am not finding it any more expensive, unless something is marketed for vegans, then there is a premium, but for the most part it’s not bad. I’m looking forward to trying new recipes and improving my health and being creative in the kitchen.

Veganism is not hard.

Veganism is not restrictive.

Veganism is something I will stick to!